Do you love Christmas as much as I do? Once I was fortunate enough to celebrate this wonderful holiday in Lapland. I was so deeply inspired by Finnish culture that I want to tell you how Christmas is celebrated in Finland.
The Finnish word for Christmas, “Joulu,” even sounds special, like Christmas itself, ringing out like the sound of a bell. And December, in Finnish, means Christmas – “Joulukuu.”
Christmas, like in all other European countries, is celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar – on December 25th, and the pre-holiday period lasts the whole month. The entire Christmas period is called “Advent” and lasts for four weeks.
Before Christmas, there is a fasting period, accompanied by church masses and Lutheran concerts. Everyone is getting ready for Christmas: streets are decorated with festive garlands, lights, symbols of faith, hope, and love – crosses, anchors, and hearts.
Advent calendar Joulukalenteri – How Christmas is celebrated in Finland.
Everyone is waiting for magic, especially children. Perhaps everyone here has a two-layer calendar (Joulukalenteri), which outwardly resembles a postcard. On a beautiful New Year’s illustration, there are windows with numbers that can be opened. Behind each door is a New Year’s drawing – a blue tit, a Christmas tree, or a candle.
Such advent calendars were invented by a German woman, Frau Lang, for her son, to make his holiday anticipation even more exciting. Over time, this calendar became popular all over the world.
Christmas gift ideas. I especially like the idea of giving experiences so that you and your loved ones can create new precious memories. Keeping this in mind, I have a couple of great gift ideas that will include the most magnificent things! – Get this wonderful advent calendar!
Finnish Christmas traditions.
Before Christmas, on Christmas Eve, people finish work earlier than usual, tidy up all their affairs, and gather strength for the Christmas mass. It is said that mischief emerges on Christmas Eve and starts roaming around Finnish lands. To appease it somehow, people leave food and heat the sauna.
On Christmas Eve, like us, girls guess about their future husbands using melted lead. Ancient traditions require Finns to set up a tall pole in the yard and put up a Christmas bundle of oats. This is done for birds that have a hard time in winter. After guessing about the future husband and setting up the oats, Finns go to the sauna, where they sit with the whole family.
In all Finnish windows, you can see seven-candle holders and hanging burning stars in Scandinavian style. But traditional truncated four-armed candle holders are still in fashion. Every Sunday of Advent, an additional lilac candle is lit. The candle is not allowed to burn out completely; they will light and extinguish it. And so until the next Sunday. And when all the candles are lit, then Christmas comes. During the holiday, in the windows of Finnish houses, you can always see all four candles burning on the Christmas table.
In Finland, there is a phenomenon called “Little Christmas.” At this time, girlfriends gather and begin to spin, knit, embroider. They sell their products at fairs. These meetings started in 1920 and still exist today. How Christmas is celebrated in Finland else:
Main holiday dates during the Christmas period in Finland.
December 13th – Saint Lucy’s Day. It is a holiday that combines pagan and Christian traditions.
December 23rd – Finnish households put up the symbol of the holiday – the Christmas tree. It is decorated with straw geometric figures called “himmele,” flags of different countries, and ornaments.
December 24th – Christmas Eve. On the eve of Christmas, everyone gathers together. Usually, this is no longer a working day, and grocery stores only work until lunchtime so that people can buy treats, and those who haven’t had time can buy last-minute gifts.
On this day, in the city of Turku, the “Christmas World” is opened on the main square, where all the townspeople and visitors gather, start congratulating each other, and giving gifts. And those who stayed at home watch the ceremony on TV, replenishing themselves with Christmas treats.
At five in the evening, festive masses begin in churches, after which people go to the cemetery, where they leave candles and spruce wreaths for their loved ones.
December 25th – Christmas arrives. It is greeted with quiet pious thoughts. On this day, no one works, and everyone goes to church.
December 26th – everyone starts celebrating. They organize dances and feasts, continuing the tradition of the medieval day of Tapani or Saint Stephen’s Day. On this day, there were caroling in the costume of a goat and “Christmas cranes.”
What Finns have on their Christmas table.
Salmon salad – something like our vinaigrette, cold-smoked salmon are served as cold appetizers.
The main Christmas treat is pork roast, but sometimes baked turkey may appear on the table.
Hot potato, carrot, and rutabaga casserole are no less important dishes for the holiday. They are often reheated twice – which makes them even more delicious.
One almond kernel is hidden in the milk rice porridge. The lucky one who finds it will be lucky all year round. But an old belief says that whoever eats the first spoonful of this porridge will die in the upcoming year. This porridge is served already with a spoon inserted, which is then thrown away.
There might be lutefisk on the table, especially for those with Swedish origin. They particularly prepare the soaked cod: the fish, caught in the summer, is soaked in lye and dried in the sun for some time. On Christmas Eve, it’s boiled and served on the table in mustard sauce. The dish somewhat resembles jelly.
For dessert, Finns love to eat gingerbread cookies and biscuits. Some go the extra mile and bake gingerbread houses and puff pastries with creamy jam. They like to bake cookies in the shape of birds, cows, and sheep, but quite often you can see cookies in the shape of a cross.
The most Christmas drink is undoubtedly glögg. This spicy drink includes raisins, almonds, cinnamon, orange zest + vodka, brandy, or akvavit (but it’s not necessary).
Prepare the most delicious glögg according to my recipe, which is here.
Red color is present everywhere for Christmas: in the clothing of Finns, in the decoration of the house, red candles are bought, red Christmas decorations, red flowers.
The favorite home decoration, besides the Christmas tree itself, is the hyacinth – it’s almost the only plant that blooms during the harsh Finnish winter. Once the hyacinth was only red, but now you can find white and even blue ones. But strangely enough, most Joulupukki prefer blue and white. Quite recently, lilacs and lilies of the valley have been given for Christmas.
If you are planning a trip to Finland, then read posts about my favorite locations in this magical country – Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi and Ranua Arctic Zoo.
If you liked this post “How Christmas is celebrated in Finland” then please follow me on Instagram, so you don’t miss any updates.
I am available for commercial work such as personal photography, brand photography, product photography and more. If you would like to work with me, feel free to email me – hello@foxgleann.com.
